From an Emmy-winning CBS Sunday Morning correspondent comes a behind-the-scenery look at his year traveling to each of America's national parks, discovering the most beautiful places and most interesting people our country has to offer.
When Conor Knighton set off to explore America's "best idea," he worried that the whole thing could end up being his worst. A broken engagement and a broken heart had left him longing for a change of scenery, but he soon realized that the plan he'd cooked up might have gone a bit overboard. Knighton intended to visit, during the course of a single year, every national park in the country, from Acadia to Zion.
In Leave Only Footprints, Knighton shares informative and entertaining dispatches from what turned out to be the road trip of a lifetime. Whether he's waking up early for a naked scrub in a historic bathhouse in Arkansas or staying up late to stargaze along our loneliest highway in Nevada, he weaves together the type of stories you're not likely to find in any guidebook. Through Knighton's unique lens, America the Beautiful becomes America the Captivating, the Hilarious, and the Inspiring. Along the way, he identifies the threads that link these wildly different places together-and that tie us to nature-and reveals how his trip ended up changing his worldview on everything from God and love to politics and technology.
Filled with fascinating tidbits about our parks' past and reflections on their fragile future, this book is both a celebration of and a passionate case for the natural wonders that all Americans share.
